The Next Doctor (TV story)
The Next Doctor 'is the 2008 Christmas Special of ''Doctor Who. It was written by Russell T. Davies, directed by Andy Goddard and featured David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor and David Morrissey as Jackson Lake. Overview To be added Synopsis The Doctor is in a seasonal mood when he arrives in London on Christmas Eve 1851. There are snowflakes in the air, carol singers in the market square and a generally festive air all around. When a woman in distress calls for him to help her, he arrives to find someone else answering her call and calling himself the Doctor. While the original Doctor sorts out just who this impostor is and why they find themselves in the same time and place, Mercy Hartigan and the Cybermen are kidnapping children to work in building their weapon that will allow them to crown their King. Plot The TARDIS lands beneath a bridge leading out to the snowcovered landscape of Victorian London. The Doctor steps out and has a wander around, asking a nearby urchin when it is; he tells him that it's Christmas 1851. Suddenly, the Doctor hears a woman screaming his name from the distance and runs to find her cowering from something slamming against a metal door. However, she continues screaming for the Doctor and another man suddenly turns up also claiming to be the Doctor, "the one, the only and the best". He tells the woman, Rosita, to pass him his sonic screwdriver and return to the TARDIS. The metal doors burst outward to reveal a furry creature with a copper, handled mask. Both Doctors draw their screwdriver to take it on. The creature considers the three of them curiously before lunging up onto the wall and climbing up it. The other Doctor grabs a rope and lassos the creature, but it just drags him up the building. The Doctor tries to cling to it as well but just gets pulled him with the other one. The creature jumps into the top floor of the building and drags the Doctors across the floor. It jumps out of the far window but Rosita cuts the rope before it can drag the men down with it. They leave the building, laughing heartily at their survival, and the other Doctor introduces Rosita. However, the Doctor notices that the Next Doctor seems to be suffering from memory loss, as he doesn't recognise him; according to him, his memory was lost after an encounter with the Cybermen. Meanwhile, the Cyberleader looks over their Cybershade's visual and the leader determines the Next Doctor to be an enemy. He orders the Cybermen's human agent, Miss Mercy Hartigan, to do her part. The Next Doctor and Rosita watch as the Reverend Fairchild's body is carried along the streets. He sends Rosita back to the TARDIS while he breaks into the late Reverend's house where the Doctor is already. They look around the house for extraterrestrial technology and the Doctor finds a number of infostamps. The sight of them is enough to trigger something in the Next Doctor's memory. Doing a final check before they leave, the Doctor finds a Cyberman and they are besieged; he holds them off with a cutlass, taking claim to being the Doctor while the Next Doctor destroys the Cybermen with the internal core of an infostamp. He asks the Doctor for help in recovering what he's lost in his mind and he agrees. Elsewhere, the funeral of the Reverend is interrupted by the arrival of Hartigan; those in attendance are disgusted by her obnoxious red dress but haven't time to dwell too much on it as she suddenly alerts them to the approach of a number of Cybermen, who kill all but about four men, Scoones, Fetch, Cole and Milligan who Hartigan claims they need for their plan. The Doctors return to the lodgings where Rosita waits for them; in the lodgings are all possessions previously belonging to Jackson Lake, another apparent victim of the Cybermen. Rosita tells the Doctor that she met the Next Doctor when he saved her from the Cybermen. The Doctor asks if he can see the Next Doctor's TARDIS and he shows him - a hot-air balloon while the acronym stands for 'Tethered Arial Release Developed In Style'. The Doctor tells the Next Doctor that he's worked out how he became the man he is and asks if he wants to know. Meanwhile, the four men Hartigan took are controlled by Cyber earpieces and Hartigan orders them to collect all the children of their workhouses and bring them to her. In Jackson's lodgings, the Doctor explains the Next Doctor began after the Cybermen were sent back into the Void and reveals that he isn't the Doctor, but the previously-presumed-dead man Jackson Lake, who had come to London for the winter, encountered the Cybermen and fought them, losing his wife Caroline in the process. However, the infostamp he used to destroy the Cybermen, containing all the information about the Doctor, backfired and streamed all the information into his head. His loss meant his mind went into a fugue state and made him believe that he was the Doctor. As Jackson mourns his sudden remembrance, the infostamps start going off, revealing a whole cache in one of Jackson's cases, alerting the Doctor that the Cybermen are on the move. Jackson sends Rosita after the Doctor to help him. They find masses of children being walked down various streets, guarded by Cybershades. They stumble across Hartigan and a pair of Cybermen, who tells them that the children are to be used as a workforce for something that would herald a new era for the Cybermen. As she orders them killed, Jackson arrives with the infostamp cache and destroys them. Rosita punches out Hartigan and the three follow the children underground. Hartigan warns the Cybermen about the Doctor and they prepare to advance their plan; having served their usefulness, Scoones, Cole, Fetch and Milligan are all killed while the children are put to work on construction in a workhouse. Jackson leads the Doctor to the cellar where he first found the Cybermen and they find a dimension vault, a device stolen from the Daleks that allowed them to escape the Void. Since this isn't the other thing that Jackson remembers from the night in the cellar, they press on. The Cyberleader takes Hartigan to the seat of their Cyberking when he informs her that she is to become it; they strap her into the chair and perform the conversion. However, it soon becomes clear that Hartigan's emotions drive her motivations as the Cyberking and the Cyberleader tries to remove her, only to be destroyed. The Doctor, Jackson and Rosita find a computer showing progress on the Cyberking's construction; their advancement makes the children expendable and they rush in and rescue them using the infostamps. As the Cyberking starts to rise, Rosita leads the children out of the workhouse; Jackson looks up and spots one lone child stood above them. His memory finally returns to him and he realises who the boy is - his son Fredrick. The Doctor makes his way to the top of the structure and saves the boy from the exploding motor. The Cyberking starts rising from the river as the Doctor and Jackson emerge. The Doctor sends Jackson and Rosita away to keep them safe while he returns to Jackson "TARDIS" and flies up to the Cyberking's head height to confront Hartigan. He offers her the chance to leave, accept his help in finding a new planet where the Cybermen can exist in peace, but she refuses to heed him. In response, the Doctor fires an infostamp core on her and severs the Cyber-connection to her mind, making her fully aware of everything she's done. Without a mind to control it, the Cyberking breaks down, destroying the Cybermen and Hartigan; the population below panics as it looks as if it's going to fall. Before it can, the Doctor uses the core of the dimension vault to send it into the time vortex to disintegrate harmlessly. Remembering the Doctor has never been thanked for his deeds, Jackson rallies the city into a mass congratulations for him. Later that evening, the Doctor and Jackson mull over the events of the day while they wander to the bridge where the real TARDIS is waiting. Jackson takes a look inside but is quickly overwhelmed; recalling that the Doctor hasn't got anybody with him anymore, Jackson invites him for a Christmas feast to celebrate and remember the lost. Despite initial reservations, the Doctor agrees and the two head off for the meal, bidding each other a Merry Christmas. Cast * The Doctor - David Tennant * Jackson Lake - David Morrissey * Miss Hartigan - Dervla Kirwan * Rosita - Velile Tshabalala * Cybershade - Ruari Mears * Cyberleader - Paul Kasey * Mr Scoones - Edmund Kente * Mr Cole - Michael Bertenshaw * Vicar - Jason Morell * Jed - Neil McDermott * Lad - Ashley Horne * Frederic - Tom Langford * Urchin - Jordan Southwell * Docker - Matthew Allick * Cyber Voices - Nicholas Briggs Crew To be added References To be added Story Notes To be added Continuity To be added Home video and audio releases To be added External Links * Official ''The Next Doctor'' page on '''Doctor Who Website